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Spokane's Dylan Walchuk had a chance to put the Chiefs up 3-2 with a breakaway with 1:52 left in regulation, but his shot went off the cross bar and the game continued.

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Americans 2, Chiefs 2, end of second: Goals by Derek Ryckman and Adam Hughesman help the Americans pull even with the Chiefs by the end of the second period.

Ryckman scored at 3:00 and Hughesman at 12:32 on the power play.

Ty Rimmer with a couple of nice stops in the last 5 minutes of the period — both on Dominik Uher.

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Chiefs 2, Americans 0, end of first: The Chiefs came out in the first on a mission, and the Americans had no answer.

A Tri-City turnover led to Collin Valcourt's goal at 3:42, while Mitch Holmberg's goal came on a power play at 11:13.

The Americans ended the first on an extended PP, but got nothing as Eric Williams was spectacular in net.

The Chiefs are bound and determined to take Brendan Shinnimin out of his game. He's been cross-checked into the net, tackled and smothered by Corbin Baldwin and shoved around when the whistle blows. He takes it in stride. Someday, a ref will start calling a few penalties and that will stop before someone gets hurt.

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Pregame: It's Friday the 13th and we are here at Spokane Arena for Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Tri-City Americans and the Spokane Chiefs.

Tri-City leads the series 2-1 and could take a commanding lead with a win tonight. They are expecting about 8,000 here tonight. I think a lot of that has to do with $1 hot dogs, popcorn and Coca-Cola. Now if they had $1 beers — any brand — they could pack this place every game night.

Most every hockey player has a superstition or two, but Friday the 13th has been good to the Americans.

The Americans are 1-0 on Friday the 13th, having beat Vancouver 11-4 on Jan. 13. We'll see if they can make it two in a row.

The Chiefs are 0-1 on Friday the 13th, having lost 4-3 in overtime at Everett.

Ty Rimmer (6-0-1) is in goal for the Americans. He leads the playoff goalies with a .942 save percentage and is tied for first with a 1.50 GAA. He has been simply outstanding for a guy who went 0-4 in the playoffs last year with Prince George.